Question 3

Both Serena and Venus Williams spoke successfully in French to the French crowd after their French Open tennis match. Lance Armstrong did the same after his Tour de France victory. How did these native-English speakers learn French? We'd have to ask them. But for this question, let's suppose they each completed 52 lessons of an audiotape course that initially required them to utter appropriate phrases in French when given their English equivalents, and later required them to respond appropriately in French to questions or statements made in French. The lessons reinforced phrases learned in previous lessons. Suppose further that these world-class athletes had to discontinue their lessons during intensive physical training during the month prior to their competitions. Which of the following methods would make it more likely that Serena, Venus, and Lance would be able to speak fluently in French at the end of their competitions?

A. Practice one lesson per week over the 52 weeks prior to their intensive athletic training.
B. Practice four lessons per week over the 13 weeks prior to their intensive athletic training.
C. Both options will produce similar results.